Deportation of an Afghan Human Smuggler from the UK and Enforcement of a Prison Sentence in Belgium

A court in the United Kingdom has issued a deportation order for an Afghan national named Zeeshan Bangash. He was sentenced to three years in prison for human trafficking, with his sentence to be served in Belgium.

Zeeshan Bangash and Saif-ur-Rahman Ahmadzai were arrested in December 2024. Ahmadzai had previously been extradited to Belgium and sentenced to ten years in prison. Both defendants had also been convicted in absentia by a Belgian court for human trafficking.

Belgian judicial authorities in November 2024 sentenced at least 21 members of a large human trafficking network to prison terms ranging from two to 18 years. The network is accused of transporting hundreds of migrants to the UK via small boats across the English Channel and, in some cases, committing severe abuses, including violence and extortion against asylum seekers.